Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.16 EPS

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16, Zacks reports. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 6.6 %

TMO stock traded up $37.33 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $605.56. The company had a trading volume of 1,382,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,004,365. The company has a 50 day moving average of $537.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $570.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a 1 year low of $493.30 and a 1 year high of $627.88. The company has a market capitalization of $231.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.04, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.76.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 5,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.89, for a total transaction of $3,263,656.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,611,804.88. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,850 shares of company stock worth $19,123,197. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $647.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $680.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company Profile

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc provides life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services in the North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company's Life Sciences Solutions segment offers reagents, instruments, and consumables for biological and medical research, discovery, and production of drugs and vaccines, as well as diagnosis of infections and diseases; and solutions include biosciences, genetic sciences, and bio production to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural, clinical, healthcare, academic, and government markets.